Immokalee, Â'my home': Florida's sun opens eyes

By: Emily J. Lunz

Posted: 3/23/06

Just a short while ago, we were all on spring break. Can you remember it? One week of blissful relaxation: from watching TV, to sleeping, to hanging out with friends at home, to sleeping, to not doing any schoolwork and yes sleeping. Perhaps you even traveled and had the privilege of seeing our long lost friend, the sun. I was one of these lucky people.

I went to Florida for spring break, but you wouldn't find me lying on the beach every day; rather, with a hammer in one hand and a paint brush in the other. You wouldn't find me partying every night; rather, attending meetings and rallies in support of one of the greatest social organizations of our decade. You wouldn't find me sleeping in a condo every night, either; rather, on the floor of an empty house that I shared with 15 other people. Yes, I was on a mission trip. The location-Immokalee, FL.

Sponsored by Spiritan Campus Ministry's Just Youth, Duquesne students have been going down to Immokalee every year during spring break since the 1990's. This year, I had the pleasure of sharing this experience with twelve fellow students and three adult leadersÂ... although, sometimes they acted more like kids than us!

While in Immokalee, we worked with Habitat for Humanity, two local after-school programs, Guadalupe Social Services, an organization which provides food and money to those in need, and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW).

Immokalee means "my home." But, unfortunately, an average home in Immokalee, a migrant farm town populated by mainly Mexican, Guatemalan and Haitian men who pick tomatoes, is either a run down house or a trailer.

The workers are paid on a piece-rate basis, at only 45 cents per 32 pound bucket of tomatoes picked. This rate amounts to $40 - $50 a day for 10 - 12 hours of frenzied picking in the hot Florida sun. They receive no healthcare, no benefits, no overtime pay and no right to collectively bargain with their employer.

In 1993, the workers of Immokalee formed the CIW in response to abuse, exploitation and slavery in the tomato fields. In an effort to change the conditions for Immokalee workers, the CIW waged a boycott against Taco Bell, the main buyer of the tomatoes they pick. After four years of protests, the coalition won their fight against Taco Bell! The fast food chain agreed to pay an extra penny per pound of tomatoes picked to each worker. This extra penny amounts to an additional 32 cents per bucket, nearly doubling the workers' wages! This was an incredible victory for the CIW, showing all corporations that a small organization can make big waves.

The coalition's next target is McDonald's, who also buys tomatoes from Immokalee. On March 26, 2006, workers and families will travel to Chicago on "The Real Rights Tour" to protest McDonalds outside of their corporate headquarters. Hopefully, the CIW will make McDonalds realize that not everybody is "lovin' it."

The main thing that we can do, as students, is to keep informed about McDonalds' reply to the CIW's request for higher wages. If a boycott does take place, then we as college students can support the CIW by sending letters to corporate headquarters and refusing to give them business until they provide fair wages to the workers who supply their tomatoes (For more information about the CIW, visit www.ciw-online.org).

I came back from Immokalee with more than a few great pictures and lobster-colored legs. I came back with a new outlook on life. So often we get caught up in our lives that we forget about the rest of the world. So often we buy our food without any thought as to who planted, picked and packaged it. So often we take for granted the simple luxuries of clean water and a mattress to sleep on. Immokalee has opened my eyes and humbled me.

I can't imagine how Florida could have been any better.

Emily J. Luntz can be reached at lunze@duq.edu.